Elementary 2x10

[killerweasel.livejournal.com]

Discussion post for Elementary 2x10 'Tremors'.

Spoilers in the comments.

What did you think?

Comments

[darknessfactor.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I agree completely. I think that they've been showcasing Sherlock's darker side this season for a reason. I have a much longer, rambling analysis of this on my journal; you're welcome to take a look.

As a sidenote - did anyone else hear that Moriarty's coming back?

[flippet.livejournal.com]

Yes, very interesting. I like your note about guilt - I fully agree.

I also think there is conflict between the way he sees himself, the way he *wants* to see himself, and the way he *is*.

In this ep, Gregson echoed Watson's emphasis of the last episode - be. nice. - not because it's right or wrong, but because it's effective.

And Sherlock is doing his best to prove the opposite - that his usual methods of being direct to the point of being needlessly nasty are what actually work. And it just bit him in the ass. Or, more accurately, bit an innocent bystander whom he grudgingly respected.

More than almost anything else, Sherlock hates being wrong. And he *is* wrong in this case. He has managed to hurt Watson, personally and professionally, a couple of times now, and it's stacking up. And now he's drawn Bell into his web of dysfunctionality, and neither of them have deserved it.

But Sherlock is painfully arrogant, and it's torture for him to break down and admit that he is wrong - especially on the point that is so vitally important to him - his methods.


However, we know something that Bell/Watson/Gregson do not - Moriarty has weaseled her way back into his life. (I'm betting that we'll find out that they have been corresponding secretly, and that will be another blow to Watson. But it would explain why he's being so prickly with her, both deliberately and inadvertently - he's keeping it from her, when his better angels would tell him that she needs to know, because she can help him. But Watson 'deserted' him right at that moment, leaving an opening for Jamie, and now she has another foothold. And I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to gently 'punish' Watson for not fully being the 'crutch' that he was wanting to use her as, for stepping outside the cozy nest they'd created that was 'working so well' - for him.)


I think that in order to keep psychological/emotional control, Sherlock is pushing the idea that he is not 'nice', that he is more of a machine than a man - so that when this blows up, as it inevitably will, he can blame it on his 'nature', rather than some pretty shitty choices.

Understand, I'm not trying to argue the opposite - that he *is* 'nice', a sweet kitten trying to be a vicious tiger - he's not. But neither is he the heartless, cruel person that he tried to present to Watson. It's somewhere in the middle. Perhaps he thinks that if he shuts his softer side away, he will be protected from Moriarty this time - that he can dive back in, for ~reasons~, without getting hurt.


You're right - all his relationships are getting strained due to his own behaviour. His mention of his 'support system' was key - that system will start crumbling, and then what will he have? What is there to stop him from diving deep into his own darkness? Moriarty will exploit that.

The ep with Abigail was key too - it serves to highlight that....Sherlock is attracted to murderers. There is something about them, psychologically, that something deep inside him 'recognizes'. It's not just professionally - it's personally, even romantically. He understands them deep in his very bones. So then....what does that make him? Where is the line that separates him from them? How easily is it crossed, and what is the point of no return? Moriarty understands this about him too, and has no compunction about manipulating it. Which he knows all too well, but - he is arrogant. Likes to convince himself of invincibility (even when he 'knows better'). *Needs* to be invincible....otherwise...he might be truly, utterly lost to the darkness.


We only got a taste of Sherlock's darkness in "M". I think it's going to get ugly this season.

[darknessfactor.livejournal.com]

All of these are great points. I'm especially interested in the one about him blaming his 'nature'. What if that's a defense mechanism? A way of coping with (not only the accusations of others) himself when he makes mistakes? Maybe there's a small part of him that acknowledges that sometimes what he does isn't always right, and he shies away from that part of himself.

Oooh, I'd really like to know if he has been keeping up a correspondence with Moriarty since episode three. At first it seemed to me like he would ignore her letters and pretend like she didn't exist (which isn't exactly healthy, either), but like you mentioned: he has a fascination with murderers. Maybe his communications with Abigail serve as foreshadowing to the present time. He's doing the same with Moriarty in order to understand the workings of the mind of a criminal.

[flippet.livejournal.com]

Maybe his communications with Abigail serve as foreshadowing to the present time. He's doing the same with Moriarty in order to understand the workings of the mind of a criminal.

Oooh. yes! I hadn't connected those two specific points, but I think you're absolutely on to something there. :-) (This is why I love to bounce my ideas off of other people - they always come up with something I hadn't thought of.)

I think he's going to feel that if he armors himself up enough, he'll be able to get what he 'needs' from her, without being sucked in by her. But his current emotional 'betrayals' and mis-steps are going to trip him up. He is too damaged in the emotional arena to get by without help, but when he refuses that help out of arrogance....bad things will happen.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Moriarty isn't even the 'bottom' that he's going to hit - she'll just be the catalyst and a swipe on the way down. Whatever Mycroft is cooking up sounds bigger (and Rob Doherty has said something to the effect that Moriarty isn't necessarily the 'big baddie' of this season).

Maybe there's a small part of him that acknowledges that sometimes what he does isn't always right, and he shies away from that part of himself.

I fully agree.

I do love to see him try, though. (Step Nine, the attempt to 'help' Bell.) It's a beautiful thing.

[darknessfactor.livejournal.com]

He always has that 'lost puppy' look on his face when he's fumbling to help someone. A bit like he doesn't quite understand what he did wrong in the first place.

I've also noticed lately that the only people he seems to show real, heartfelt compassion for are victims of abuse like himself. In that one episode when he rescued the slave girl, and later when he helped the woman who was taken by the serial killer, he puts aside all pretenses and is the most sincere we've ever seen him in his willingness to help them. There's no awkwardness to the way he does it. He's surprisingly kind.

Just wondering if that has anything to do with it.

[flippet.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's exactly why/where I don't believe him when he says that he is not a nice man.

He has hard edges, certainly, and not all of them are learned - I am willing to believe that some of them are most certainly innate.

But he *does* have tenderness and compassion in his heart, and that is an integral part of him as well. This is what Watson sees, and is drawing on.


His treatment of Watson is the exception to the rule (at least in his mind) - and that's interesting.


My thoughts just wandered in this direction...he's drawn to and compassionate to people who are broken in ways that leave them open to deep darkness - abuse victims. The two women you mentioned, Abigail, even the boy who later turned out to be the Balloon Man - before that part was apparent.

We're going to learn more of Moriarty's backstory - will this be part of it too? It would make sense.


So the interesting bit to me is...why is Watson the seeming exception? Is there more darkness in her than we've yet seen?


Ennh, I'm probably overthinking it. Would be interested in your thoughts on the watch/token below, though.

[darknessfactor.livejournal.com]

No, you're not over-thinking it at all. I just read somewhere that Rob Doherty had this idea about Watson's past - that her mother divorced her birth father and re-married. So we might find out a bit more about Watson's birth father.